Jonny Reid

Not to be confused with Scottish country music artist Johnny Reid.
Jonathan Ross Reid, more commonly known as Jonny Reid, (born 18 October 1983, in Auckland) is a New Zealand racing driver. Reid comes from a well-known New Zealand racing family. Both his grandfather and his father were known kiwi racers. His father, Clayton Reid, was a New Zealand champion in karting. Reid presents himself as a "fine kiwi gentleman" and says that "racing is the sole love of his life".

Like so many others, Reid started racing in karting at the very young age of 8. In 1996, Reid won his first title, the New Zealand North Island Championship in the rookie class. In 1997, he went on to win the North Island Championship in the Junior Class. In 1998, he won the North Island Championship again. However, this time in the Junior Intercontinental Class. In 1999, Reid won his first New Zealand Championship in Junior Stock which was preceded by wins in the Pro series.

In 2002, Reid won the New Zealand Formula Ford Festival for the second year in a row, the New Zealand Championship and the New Zealand Grand Prix. With the aid of Andrew Neale and John Crawford, Reid achieved his goal of winning the prestigious Motorsport New Zealand's Steel Trophy for his dedication, skill, an excellent level of professionalism and sportsmanlike attitude.

Reid drove for Graham Watson's Ralt Australia team in the 2003 Australian Drivers' Championship. He had good season with four pole positions, six front row starts and wins in five races, gaining overall victory in three rounds. Reid finished the season with pole position and wins in both races in Round 6 at Eastern Creek and placed second in the championship.

Reid also drove at the famous Bathurst 1000 race in 2003, gaining considerable note when, after only six laps, he had laid down a time that would have put him on the front row of the Konica race. His race did not eventuate, however, when the car suffered a terminal mechanical fault after only a few laps whilst being driven by his team mate.

In 2010 he tested for Kelly Racingand in 2011 for Mother EnergyV8 Supercar teams. He participated in the 2010 Queensland V8 Supercar race practicing in Todd Kelly's car, but not racing. In 2012, he raced at the V8 supercar endurance races with Michael Patrizi in a Tekno Autosports Commodore. In February 2013, it was announced that Jonny would race for Dick Johnson Racing in the 2013 V8Supercar Championship Series. However, he was dropped on 19 April 2013 and replaced with Chaz Mostert.

In 2005, Reid was called up by his country to race in the A1 Grand Prix. There he partnered Matt Halliday where they racked up 77 points in total to put the team in 4th place.

In 2006, Reid was again called up to race in A1 Grand Prix. Reid drives a car which by the fans and media has been dubbed as the Black Beauty. He qualified first at Masaryk Circuit, A1 Team New Zealand's first pole position. In the sprint race Reid collided with Nico Hülkenberg of Team Germany, before the first corner, and they both ran off the track.

Reid also raced in the fourth round of the A1GP in Malaysia in Sepang International Circuit, where he and Hülkenberg collided once again. The German did not give him enough space on the track and both cars touched on the first corner. However, Reid managed to continue racing even with the damaged suspension and came 3rd in the sprint race. This was the first podium finish for the team. After doubling Team New Zealand's points in Malaysia, Reid was unexpectedly selected to drive in the fifth round in Indonesia. In Indonesia Reid managed to get the fastest qualifying times, first place in the sprint race and first place in the feature race. The double wins means Reid will now be racing in the Taupo, New Zealand event in January 2007.

“Taupo is in the back of my mind..."

“But this is a hot seat and you have to be performing the whole time if you want to keep it. I’m just looking to better my game every time I get in that car, so I’ll be pushing myself to qualify on pole and win races. That’s my focus.”

On 8 January 2008 Reid raced his A1GP car 'Black Beauty' against an Air New Zealand Boeing 777-200ER passenger jet at Auckland International Airport. The first try saw the Boeing race past Jonny and lift into the sky, while the second attempt saw Black Beauty beat the 777 just as it was about to lift off. The car reached about 300 km/h, while the Boeing 777, with little fuel and no passengers or cargo, reached about 280 km/h before it was forced to lift into the sky. The race was publicity for the upcoming Taupo A1GP race.

Reid making his Indy Lights debut in the Freedom 100

Reid passed his Firestone Indy Lights rookie test on 19 May 2008 at Iowa Speedway and made his debut for Integra Motorsports in the 2008 Firestone Freedom 100 on 23 May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In race 2 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Reid took a career-best start of third and finish of fourth in race one, and the grid reversal gave him pole for race two. In wet conditions amidst lots of Safety Car periods Reid led most of the race, which was run to time rather than laps due to the delays. Reid took the white flag in second place behind Mitch Cunningham, but Cunningham then crashed at turn one, before a three-car incident further back involving points leader Richard Antinucci brought out the yellow flag. This effectively gave Reid the race, but (with his radio having failed earlier) he was unclear on the situation, and pitted at the end of the lap, meaning that he crossed the line in ninth place, gifting the win to James Davison. Reid left Integra Motorsports and missed the next race on the schedule. He returned one round later at Infineon Raceway driving a fourth car for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

In the 2009/10 New Zealand Season he raced in the New Zealand Porsche GT3 Cup winning three races and finishing second to Craig Baird. He raced again in the 2010/11 season this time only winning one race and third in the Championship. He joined the re-vamped Australian Carrera Cup Championship in 2011. He finished second again to Craig Baird driving for McElrea Racing and winning three races. He won the Tudor Fastest Lap award for the most fastest laps in the championship. He also raced in the 2011 Australian GT Championship in the GT Challenge class with John Modystach winning both races they entered.

He competed in the first New Zealand V8SuperTourer in 2012 finishing second to John McIntyre after not finishing in the second race in the final round at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park.

Complete Euro Formula 3000 results

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	DC	Points
2004	John Village Automotive	BRN 7	EST Ret	JER 3	MOZ Ret	SPA 6	DON 1	DIJ 2	ZOL 2	NÜR1 2	NÜR2 5	4th	35

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

Complete Indy Lights results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
2008	Chip Ganassi Racing	HMS	STP1	STP2	KAN	INDY 20	MIL 15	IOW 19	WGL1 10	WGL2 21	NSH 17	MDO1 4	MDO2 9	KTY				18th	186
	Sam Schmidt Motorsports														SNM1 9	SNM2 19	CHI 11

Complete Auto GP results

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	DC	Points
2010	Super Nova Racing	BRN1 13	BRN2 7	IMO1 5	IMO2 Ret	SPA1 4	SPA2 7	MAG1 10	MAG2 6	NAV1 5	NAV2 6	MON1 Ret	MON1 14	10th	16

Complete V8 Supercar results